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Rejoinder "Bt Brinjal not harmful, it's economic" By Sanjay Deshpande Our readers who hold entirely different views on Bt Brinjal are welcome to join this debate—Editor This is in response to the Organiser editorial "On climate change UPA dancing to US tunes" dated November 1, 2009. Background on Brinjal Solanum melongena L also known as Brinjal or baingan in India and Eggplant elsewhere, is low in calories and high in nutrition, the vegetable has very high water content and is very good source of fiber, calcium, phosphorus, folate and vitamins B and C. This egg shaped product is also known as poor man’s vegetable. India accounts for 20 per cent of global production just behind 30 per cent of China. The crop is grown on 5,50,000 hectares by 1.4 million small and resource poor farmers. The Brinjal economy is worth about $2 billion by conservative estimates. The area under cultivation has increased by 15 per cent over the last 10 years but production has barely increased. A major factor for stagnant production is the repeated attacks by Fruit Shoot Borer (FSB) which poses a serious problem. FSB larvae bore into tender shoots and fruits, retarding growth and making the fruits unsuitable for the market and unfit for human consumption. Fruit damage is as high as 95 per cent and losses of upto 70 per cent are reported. Farmers resort to frequent insecticide applications and biological control measures to counter the threat. But since the larvae are concealed in shoots and a fruit, the pest normally escapes. Therefore the farmers tend to overspray. In addition to the financial costs and negative impact on the environment, high pesticide residue in vegetables and fruits pose serious risk to consumers’ health and safety. This was one of the reasons why different scientific teams picked up Brinjal as the product for use of GM technology as conventional plant breeding methods have met with limited or almost no success in developing FSB resistant cultivars. What is Bt Brinjal? Bt Brinjal incorporates the cry1Ac gene expressing insecticidal protein to confer resistance against FSB. The cry1Ac gene has been sourced from soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. When ingested by the FSB larvae, the Bt protein is activated in the gut leading to lyses and death of the larvae. Bt Brinjal is found to be effective against Fruit Shoot Borer (FSB) with 98 per cent insect mortality in Bt Brinjal Shoots and 100 per cent in fruits compared to less than 30 per cent mortality in non Bt counterparts. At least half a dozen publicly funded research teams and Mahyco are working on this project with a view to increase production of Eggplant, reduce costs, reduce toxic chemical residue on the fruits and improve the income of a million plus farmers. The companies are Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd (Mahyco). Besides them technology developed by National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology with cryFa1 has been transferred to Bejo Sheetal, Vibha Seeds, Nath Seeds and Krishidhan Seeds Ltd. Indian Institute of Horticultural research is also developing the FSB resistant Brinjal by incorporating cry1Ab gene. Rigorous scientific tests, including toxicity and Allergenicity evaluation as well as nutritional studies have confirmed that Bt Brinjal is as safe as its non Bt counterpart. Toxicity allergenicity studies Acute oral toxicity studies in Rats through Intox Pune (2003). Limit dose of 500 mg/kg body weight did not cause any toxicity as evident by the study. Mucous membrane irritation study in rabbits by Intox, Pune (2004). Based on the average irritation index (0.0), Transgenic Bt Brinjal containing cry1A(c) gene (Solanum melongena L.) is classified as non-irritant to mucous membrane in rabbit. Primary skin irritation test in rabbit (2004). Based on the irritancy index, the test article Transgenic Bt Brinjal containing cry1A(c) gene (Solanum melongena L.) is to be classified as non-irritant to rabbit skin. Sub chronic oral toxicity study through Intox, Pune (2005). No Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) of Bt Brinjal in rats, following oral administration for 90 days was found to be more than 1000mg /kg of body weight. Allergenicity study in rats by Ralllis, Bangalore (2005). No biological difference between the allergenicity of the Brinjal from transgenic and 4 non transgenic Brinjal hybrids. Fish Feeding study Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai (2005). Bt Brinjal shows similar growth pattern and there were no significant differences among FCR, FER and PER of these four varieties on feeding to fish common carp for 45 days. Chicken Feeding studies (2006). Central Avian Research Institute, Izatnagar (2006). The study envisage that Bt Brinjal is moderate energy rich feedstuff which can be safety incorporated up to 10 per cent level in maize soybean based broiler ration. Lactating cow feeding studies (2006) GB Pant University of Ag & Technology, Pantnagar (2006). It was concluded that the nutritional value of both transgenic and non transgenic Brinjal fruits were similar in terms of feed intake, milk yield and milk constituents without any adverse effect on health of lactating cross-breed cows. Sub chronic feeding studies in goat/rabbit through Advinus, Bangalore (2006). Based on the health, growth and physio pathological parameters analysed during the experiment, it is concluded that there is no difference between the transgenic Bt Brinjal and control non Bt Brinjal fruits fed to rabbits Environmental studies Pollen flow studies (2002, 2006, 2008): Maximum pollen flow observed to the extent of 30 meters which is comparable to that of non Bt Brinjal. Germination and weediness studies : No significant differences were observed in the behaviour of Bt and non Bt Brinjal. Soil microbial impact studies: Micro flora and fauna (invertebrates) were studied and no difference were observed in Bt and non Bt Brinjal. Protein expression studies: Bt Brinjal produces adequate quantity of cry1Ac protein during the life span of plant to kill the targeted insect. Base line susceptibility studies: The susceptibility of targeted insect was found to be much below the level of cry1Ac protein expressed in Bt Brinjal. Crossability with wild relatives was carried by Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. Compositional analysis of Bt Brinjal hybrid and its non-Bt Brinjal counterpart was conducted at Vimta Labs, Hyderabad. No difference was observed in constituents of Bt and non-Bt brinjal. Field trials Multi location agronomic trials with ICAR (2004) conducted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. Multi location agronomic trials with ICAR (2005) conducted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research New Delhi. Large scale trials (2007) conducted by Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. Large scale trials (2008) conducted by Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi. 4. Perceptions about Bt Brinjal Farmers benefit: The multi location trials confirmed that Bt Brinjal required 77 per cent less insecticide sprays, increased marketable yields from 16-66 per cent. This will deliver to the farmer economic benefit ranging from 16,299 to 19,744 Rs per acre. Consumer Benefits: The significant decrease in insecticide application results in a substantial decline in pesticide residues in Brinjal fruits. NGO view: NGOs are basically ideologically opposed to GM crops and challenge on the safety and long term effects of the same. As far as safety of the same is concerned, extensive testing is done as elaborated above. Besides this GM crops with same gene have been in use in India since 2002 and covering today 6.2 million hectares (Bt cotton). Bt cotton worldwide has been in use for last 12 years covering 15 million hectares.

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